T
TickTock
Guest
What did you “feel” after? I am in RCIA (well that’s not what my church calls it) and should I continue the path, am scheduled for mine Easter Vigil.
- Status
C
corsair
Guest
I can’t remember that far back (1970). I was 30 y.o. I do remember that I was grateful, but “feel” anything? I don’t think so. Its not a magic bullet. Its a gift from God.
T
TrueLight
Guest
I was in tears, but that was my reaction. It doesn’t mean it will be yours.
I felt eternally grateful for finally being able to receive our Lord.
I felt eternally grateful for finally being able to receive our Lord.
J
Julia_Mae
Guest
Relieved and grateful.
O
OmniShaun
Guest
I was forty when I first took communion.
I still don’t “feel” anything but only put my trust in God and the Church.
It’s frustrating sometimes.
I still don’t “feel” anything but only put my trust in God and the Church.
It’s frustrating sometimes.
A
Annabelle_Marie
Guest
My husband was in tears afterwards…and he doesn’t cry very much.
C
Cat
Guest
My husband and I were 47 when we were received into the Catholic Church.
In my evangelical Protestant background, it was drilled into me that we should never ever EVER rely on feelings, but only on facts and faith.
I was raised on the “Fact-Faith-Feeling” train (4 Spiritual Laws)!
We were constantly cautioned to avoid “emotionalism” in our worship. When the Charismatic Renewal started up in the mid 1970s, we stayed aloof from it.
And even though my childhood church now has a “Praise and Worship” band and singers, most of the people still don’t do any clapping or swaying or hand-raising during the service.
So aftter 47 years of this background, I find it very difficult to have “feelings” in a Christian worship setting, including the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Yes, there are times when I am blown away by the majesty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
And I have been in tears a few times. (1) The first time I ever heard the hymn “Gather Us In” at a Mass because the idea that we are all welcome in the Church was beautiful to me (we had been kicked out of our evangelical Protestant church and had been deliberately without a church for two years. (2) When the bishop welcomed the Catechumens and Candidates, the hymn “Here I Am Lord” was being sung and played–I love that hymn to this day, and get very feisty when people on CAF criticize it as “banal.” To each his own!
But usually, I believe because the facts support Catholic Christianity, and I have faith in the Lord Jesus and the Catholic Church without feeling anything. Fact-Faith-Feeling–choo choo choo!
In my evangelical Protestant background, it was drilled into me that we should never ever EVER rely on feelings, but only on facts and faith.
I was raised on the “Fact-Faith-Feeling” train (4 Spiritual Laws)!
We were constantly cautioned to avoid “emotionalism” in our worship. When the Charismatic Renewal started up in the mid 1970s, we stayed aloof from it.
And even though my childhood church now has a “Praise and Worship” band and singers, most of the people still don’t do any clapping or swaying or hand-raising during the service.
So aftter 47 years of this background, I find it very difficult to have “feelings” in a Christian worship setting, including the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Yes, there are times when I am blown away by the majesty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
And I have been in tears a few times. (1) The first time I ever heard the hymn “Gather Us In” at a Mass because the idea that we are all welcome in the Church was beautiful to me (we had been kicked out of our evangelical Protestant church and had been deliberately without a church for two years. (2) When the bishop welcomed the Catechumens and Candidates, the hymn “Here I Am Lord” was being sung and played–I love that hymn to this day, and get very feisty when people on CAF criticize it as “banal.” To each his own!
But usually, I believe because the facts support Catholic Christianity, and I have faith in the Lord Jesus and the Catholic Church without feeling anything. Fact-Faith-Feeling–choo choo choo!
M
Marie5890
Guest
I will be honest.
Because of the massive amounts of incensed used during the Mass, I had a HUGE HEADACHE! So for me it wasnt most joyful of memories. It was one of pain.
Since then, its a sacred time.
Because of the massive amounts of incensed used during the Mass, I had a HUGE HEADACHE! So for me it wasnt most joyful of memories. It was one of pain.
Since then, its a sacred time.
O
Opie90
Guest
I was unnaturally joyful for me, which expressed itself in smiling. I am not the type of person who is continually smiling, in fact people often think I am upset when I am not. I am also generally very sober looking during the liturgy (I imagine of course, since I cannot see myself). I was smiling from the start of Easter Vigil from the finish, but my joy definitely increased when I renewed my baptismal vows and received Confirmation and the Eucharist.
It is important to remember that the truth is independent of our feelings though and not every person;s experience is the same. If you don’t feel anything, it doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
It is important to remember that the truth is independent of our feelings though and not every person;s experience is the same. If you don’t feel anything, it doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
N
novusCatholic
Guest
For me, it was a very powerful experience. Tears and thanks. As an adult convert, I was very appreciative for what I had found in the Catholic Church. I still am.
Your experience will be your own. Enjoy the process.
A
Actaeon
Guest
Copy pasta’d from another thread about a month ago that dealt with similar subject matter:
*Don’t get yourself overly excited! We are not a faith that is dependent on emotional rushes as our only means of reaching God. I’ve found that at times I’m given to a highly experiential reception of communion, but most often my encounter with Christ is less like a raging bull and more like leaves floating on the wind… and that in it’s way is its own sublime experience.
Whatever your experience you can be sure of this: that in the Eucharist, God may ignore what we want, but He gives us what we need, whether the quiet whisper of grace or the rush of passionate faith. *
P
Prairie_Rose
Guest
I was only 1 of 2 people being received into the Church at the Easter Vigil, so being the near center of attention in a Church full of people made me very nervous and quite self-conscious.
But once I received the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ, it was like a warm hug, and all the people behind me in the pews seemed to fade away and I wasn’t conscious of them any longer…it was just me and the Lord. And to this day, I sit in the front pew and try to focus strictly on Jesus, the Blessed Sacrament, and not let those behind me distract me from my time with God. My family drag their feet as I make them sit up front with me, but I tell them that as Disciples of Christ, we are supposed to sit at the foot of Jesus, and you can’t do that by sitting in the very back row!!!
But once I received the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ, it was like a warm hug, and all the people behind me in the pews seemed to fade away and I wasn’t conscious of them any longer…it was just me and the Lord. And to this day, I sit in the front pew and try to focus strictly on Jesus, the Blessed Sacrament, and not let those behind me distract me from my time with God. My family drag their feet as I make them sit up front with me, but I tell them that as Disciples of Christ, we are supposed to sit at the foot of Jesus, and you can’t do that by sitting in the very back row!!!
C
Cider
Guest
I can’t really put it into words adequately. I didn’t cry, nor did I feel tearful. But I did feel a sort of emanating energy. My first communion was at Sunday mass as I wasn’t received into the church at the Easter Vigil.
H
hilde_the_dog
Guest
Felt like being home. Although I deeply distrust feelings. Faith and life are not about your feelings.
E
Elizabeth779
Guest
It felt like the end of my journey to Christ’s church…and the beginning of a journey as living my life as Catholic…there has not been a single day since Easter Vigil 2009 that I have not thanked God for bringing me to His Church…Holy Eucharist – the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord…it has changed my life in so many ways…
I am so blessed.
This so simply started because I was invited to a baptism of a girlfriend’s baby. While at that Mass, I recognized the real presence…recognized it was so real, God was so with us, and it was not a symbol…I tell Catholics now: “Never underestimate the power of living our your Catholic life for others to see.”
It can change lives…God can use it in mighty ways.
Great thread. Thank you.
I am so blessed.
This so simply started because I was invited to a baptism of a girlfriend’s baby. While at that Mass, I recognized the real presence…recognized it was so real, God was so with us, and it was not a symbol…I tell Catholics now: “Never underestimate the power of living our your Catholic life for others to see.”
It can change lives…God can use it in mighty ways.
Great thread. Thank you.
K
klm120861
Guest
What did I feel? It was like being given a long cold drink after 7 long months in the desert. It was as gentle as a snowfall. (I’m in Arizona, and it was near 80 today, so I’m talking the movie type snowfall, the magical snowfall, not the blizzard reality.) It was warmth, and gentleness.
It was filet mignon, and I was starving to death.
It was (and still is) Jesus. Body, blood, soul and divinity.
Don’t miss it.
Kris
It was filet mignon, and I was starving to death.
It was (and still is) Jesus. Body, blood, soul and divinity.
Don’t miss it.
Kris
S
SecretaryMonday
Guest
I received Confirmation and 1st Holy Communion at 27.
I’m pretty quiet and I don’t generally get excited like other people do, and when excitable people promise that there will be excitement and I’m gonna have fun, I get depressed instead, because the exciting moment came and went without my feeling anything. Since the leaders in RCIA were promising that Confirmation and Communion would be a tremendous, thrilling, overwhelmingly happy and joyful experience, I worried that I’d end up remembering that day as being terribly sad, and I’d feel rejected by God, etc., etc. …and I didn’t want my Confirmation day to turn out like that!
It turned out to be a positive experience. I had been looking forward to receiving Christ in the Eucharist for years before I ever thought of becoming Catholic, but I didn’t have any feelings about it when it happened. I did feel very quietly excited later that night, though. (For months afterward, I kept thinking, “I can’t wait until I’m Catholic and…oh waaaaait, I’m ALREADY Catholic!! How cool is that?”)
For me, the sacrament that I had the strongest feeling about was my first Confession. It was hard afterward because I felt I’d “done it wrong” (immediately after, I thought of stuff I’d been too nervous to remember), but on the way to the church, I was overwhelmed with wonder and gratitude that this glorious gift had been granted to humanity and that I was allowed to partake in it.
I’m pretty quiet and I don’t generally get excited like other people do, and when excitable people promise that there will be excitement and I’m gonna have fun, I get depressed instead, because the exciting moment came and went without my feeling anything. Since the leaders in RCIA were promising that Confirmation and Communion would be a tremendous, thrilling, overwhelmingly happy and joyful experience, I worried that I’d end up remembering that day as being terribly sad, and I’d feel rejected by God, etc., etc. …and I didn’t want my Confirmation day to turn out like that!
It turned out to be a positive experience. I had been looking forward to receiving Christ in the Eucharist for years before I ever thought of becoming Catholic, but I didn’t have any feelings about it when it happened. I did feel very quietly excited later that night, though. (For months afterward, I kept thinking, “I can’t wait until I’m Catholic and…oh waaaaait, I’m ALREADY Catholic!! How cool is that?”)
For me, the sacrament that I had the strongest feeling about was my first Confession. It was hard afterward because I felt I’d “done it wrong” (immediately after, I thought of stuff I’d been too nervous to remember), but on the way to the church, I was overwhelmed with wonder and gratitude that this glorious gift had been granted to humanity and that I was allowed to partake in it.
- Status